For the second year running, students of the Asia Private Equity Club @ SMU (APECS) were the proud organisers of the SMU Asia Private Equity Institute (APEI) Leveraged Buyout (LBO) Case Competition.  Held in partnership with the New York School of Finance (NYSF) and Chartered Alternative Investment Association (CAIA), the competition aims to drum up Asian students’ interest in private equity by providing an intellectually stimulating environment for them to conduct ‘hands-on learning’ and to network with industry professionals and overseas peers.

This year’s edition featured 30 teams, comprising undergraduates and postgraduates, from prestigious universities in seven countries in Asia, Europe and the United States, including Columbia University and University of Oxford.

For the preliminary round, teams were tasked to provide a strategic recommendation for Wynn Resorts (such as a leveraged buyout or an acquisition) in the form of an investment thesis and analysis.  Ten teams were then shortlisted to present their case to an ‘investment committee’ – a judging panel from NYSF – as part of the semi-finals.  Subsequently, the five best teams – from SMU (two teams), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore, Columbia University and Université Paris-Dauphine, advanced to the Grand Finals held at SMU in early March.

At the finals, teams took on the role of a private equity firm and had three weeks to analyse the feasibility of conducting a LBO of the HKSE-listed cosmetics retailer Sa Sa International Holdings.  They were to propose a deal and financing structure, as well as a business roadmap that will improve Sa Sa’s performance during the holding period.

[Photo: Gold Medalist: Team One Notch Higher From IIM Bangalore.  (L-R) Shikhar Sethi, Shifa Garg, Madhav Marda and Pulkit Aggarwal.]

The judges were impressed by the participants’ strong ability to understand multiple aspects of a business, as well as by the robustness and quality of their analyses.  Eventually, it was Team One Notch Higher from IIM Bangalore which was declared the winner.  Team Singapore Sling and Team Wolves – both from SMU – bagged the Silver and Bronze prizes.  These top three teams walked away with trophies and cash prizes worth S$10,000 in total.  In addition, each member of the champion team received the prestigious CAIA Level I scholarship.

Pulkit Aggarwal, leader of Team One Notch Higher, said that the competition was a tremendous learning opportunity for the entire team.  “Both the cases pushed us to consider nearly all aspects of a business.  Since the fundamental theme around which the cases were built was the slowdown of China, it enhanced our understanding of the impact that the slowdown has on businesses in the region.  Winning the event gave us a great sense of satisfaction in the end.  Thank you SMU, APEI, NYSF, CAIA and all those involved in organising the event.”

Professor Gerard George, Dean of the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business, said, “It was truly exciting to witness the students’ interest in private equity.  They clearly have the passion to acquire skills and knowledge beyond the classroom.  The finalists had the opportunity to network and share their experiences from the finance industry in their home countries.  I believe the competition will gain interest from more business schools around the world as it seeks to be the hallmark private equity competition in Asia.  We aspire to gather the youngest and brightest students from around the world.”

[Photo: Competition judge Mr Miguel A. Soriano (2^nd from right), CFA (Senior International Consultant, World Bank Group) with the Bronze Medalist – SMU’s Team Wolves.  (L-R) Jack Zhan Nanhong (2^nd year, Accountancy), Frederick Yip Yong Xin (2^nd, Accountancy), Siow Yun Han (2^nd year, Business Management) and Tay De Jing (2^nd year, Business Management).]

[Featured photo: Silver Medalist – SMU’s Team Singapore Sling.  (L-R) Lee Gao Yi (Final year, Economics), Ng Shu Ren (Final year, Accountancy), Alvin Yue Weng Fatt (Final year, Economics), and Nigel Ng Jun Ming (Final year, Business Management).]